A Kids at Risk Action project

KARA SIGNAL

The systems are measured. The children are seen.

Oregon

What Oregon reported to the federal government about the children in its custody and the children it investigated. Where a year says not reported, that is the record.

The funnel, FFY 2024

Oregon vs. national

What happened to reports of child maltreatment in Oregon in federal fiscal year 2024, at each decision point. Rates are what make states comparable; raw counts mostly measure population.

StageOregonRateNational
Referrals to CPSCounts: referrals84,960102.8per 1,000 children59.3
Screened in (became reports)Counts: referrals35,97942.3% of referrals47.1%
Screened outCounts: referrals48,98157.7% of referrals52.9%
Children investigated or given an alternative responseCounts: children45,42155per 1,000 children40.6
Child victims (substantiated or indicated)Counts: children11,25113.6per 1,000 children7.2
Child fatalitiesCounts: children161.94per 100,000 children2.41

Referrals, reports, children, and victims are four different denominators and are not interchangeable. A referral may concern more than one child; a child may appear in more than one referral; a victim is a child with a substantiated or indicated disposition. National figures are the Children's Bureau's own estimates, not sums of the state rows.

Source: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS), Tables 2-3, 3-1, 3-3, 4-1

What Oregon does not report

For the measures on this page, Oregon reported a figure in every year covered. That is not the same as the figures being complete or comparable — see the methodology for what the federal record does not measure at all.

ReportedEvery FFY on file

Maltreatment and fatalities over time (NCANDS)

Child fatalities reported to NCANDS, Oregon, FFY2020 to FFY2024

51015202020: 172021: 182022: 192023: 192024: 1620202021202220232024

Source: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)

KARA VerifiedChild Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)FFY 2024Counts: child fatalities

Child maltreatment victims, Oregon, FFY2020 to FFY2024

2,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,0002020: 11,4872021: 10,5732022: 10,4792023: 10,7732024: 11,25120202021202220232024

Source: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)

KARA VerifiedChild Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS)FFY 2024Counts: child victims (substantiated or indicated)

Foster care (AFCARS)

Measure2013201420152016201720182019202020212022
Adopted with public agency involvement768847835768707679792877696585
Entered foster care3,7973,5343,9143,8844,1573,5863,3342,7432,4132,297
Exited foster care4,0243,6673,5113,1813,6603,7593,6873,4373,0122,584
In foster care on September 308,2027,3957,3887,6487,7587,3826,8426,0265,2694,826
Children served in foster care12,22611,06210,89910,82911,41811,14110,5299,4638,2817,410
Termination of parental rights1,3081,5861,3941,2361,2271,3021,318936805700
Waiting for adoption1,8541,8971,7571,6661,5861,7441,5761,0431,129912

Source: AFCARS state tables, FY2013 to FY2022

AFCARS 2020 rule, FFY2023 to FFY2025 (preliminary)

Collected under the AFCARS 2020 final rule, first effective FFY 2023. Counts include ages 0 to 23. Figures are preliminary estimates from submissions received by February 27, 2026, and states may still revise them. This series is not comparable with the FY 2013 to FY 2022 series, which was collected under the 1993 rule and counted a narrower population; this site does not join the two. Wyoming first submitted under the new rule for FFY 2024 and Washington for FFY 2025; earlier years for those states are shown as not reported.

Measure202320242025
Entered foster care2,2712,1672,391
In foster care on September 304,5894,3304,526
Exited foster care2,5912,3442,115

Counts: children (ages 0 to 23)

Source: AFCARS Dashboard, preliminary FFY2025 estimates (No. 33)

Oregon in the archive

What the numbers above cost, in KARA's own reporting.

  • School Performance, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow & What To Do

    KARA reportingMike TikkanenMay 5, 2026

    • “Since 2020, national and state test data show steep declines in foundational reading and math skills that are not bouncing back on their own. If current trends hold, by 2034 a majority of U.S. students will need remedial support, deepeni...

  • A Closer Look At Child Fatality and Egregious Incident Reporting

    KARA reportingMike TikkanenMarch 8, 2026

    Child Fatality & Egregious Incident Reporting: A U.S. Overview America’s approach to exposing and understanding the gravest harms done to children—fatalities, near-deaths, torture, and catastrophic agency failures—reveals a nation deeply di...

  • The Cost of Children Waiting for Their Voice In Court (Guardian ad Litem)

    KARA reportingMike TikkanenFebruary 8, 2026

    Hundreds of children in Minnesota’s child protection system are waiting for a guardian ad litem – the only independent voice they have in court. Every extra month in foster care deepens trauma and drives up costs. This article explains how ...

  • Mental Health Video & Podcast Resources for Abused & Neglected Children & Trauma Survivors

    KARA reportingMike TikkanenDecember 7, 2025

    Below are KARA's researched useful videos and podcasts on child abuse and neglect mental health ACEs, trauma, healing, and skill‑building cluster into a few groups: big‑picture science, practical trauma‑informed care, and survivor‑oriented ...

  • The Importance of Foster Youth Rights (find your State here)

    KARA reportingMike TikkanenOctober 22, 2025

    This article is derived from Hana Ikramuddin's excellent Imprint News Article about Fosters not being notified of their rights - Read the Imprint article here. Hana tells us the story of AIayna Ghost’s years in Foster Care from ages 7 to 18...

  • A Closer Look At Child Fatality and Egregious Incident Reporting

    KARA reportingMike TikkanenJuly 29, 2025

    Child Fatality & Egregious Incident Reporting: A U.S. Overview America’s approach to exposing and understanding the gravest harms done to children—fatalities, near-deaths, torture, and catastrophic agency failures—reveals a nation deeply di...

  • Free and Discounted Resources for Foster Youth

    KARA reportingMike TikkanenJuly 28, 2025

    free and discounted resources for foster and adopted children and families

  • What Teachers Are Facing Today and Tomorrow

    KARA reportingMike TikkanenAugust 11, 2024

    Teachers feel undervalued and overwhelmed. Turnover his high and a number of states are using unqualified people to fill positions.

All 53 Oregon articles →

Data vintage

Federal data on this page: Child Maltreatment 2024 (NCANDS), Table 3-3 (Child Victims) and Table 4-1 (Total Fatalities), U.S. HHS/ACF Children's Bureau, published January 2025, loaded 2026-07-24. AFCARS foster care runs as two series that are not comparable across the rule change: state tables FY 2013 to FY 2022 under the 1993 rule, and AFCARS Dashboard preliminary estimates FFY 2023 to FFY 2025 under the 2020 rule (release No. 33, as of February 27, 2026), loaded 2026-07-25.

Unreported-maltreatment estimates: NIS-4 (National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect), data collected 2005–2006, report issued January 2010 — the last time the United States measured maltreatment that never reaches CPS. No NIS-5 has been funded.